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2017 Media FAQs

What is SCORE?

SCORE is the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, with approximately 10,000 volunteers in 300 chapters nationwide. Since its founding in 1964 as a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), SCORE has helped more than 10 million current and aspiring entrepreneurs through mentoring, workshops and educational services. In 2016 alone, SCORE helped to create 54,072 new businesses and add 78,691 new, non-owner jobs to the American economy.

What kind of mentoring does SCORE provide?

SCORE volunteers provide free mentoring to small business entrepreneurs on a wide range of business topics—everything from how to write a business plan, how to arrange funding and manage cash flow, to how to develop effective marketing and Web-based retailing. Business owners can access SCORE via free, ongoing face-to-face mentoring sessions or through our email mentoring services

Does SCORE offer services other than small business mentoring?

In addition to mentoring, SCORE also offers free and low-cost educational workshops each year, both online and in-person, designed to educate entrepreneurs on every aspect of successful small business ownership. In 2016, clients attended 119,957 online workshop sessions. 237,712 local workshop attendees benefited from SCORE’s in-person educational programming.

Hundreds of educational resources are also available for free on SCORE’s website, including downloadable templates and tools, daily blog posts on best practices in business, and news updates on the constantly changing landscape of U.S. small business. In 2016, 2,982,519 unique visitors accessed the www.score.org website, utilizing 24/7 online mentoring and thousands of expert resources and business tools.

What qualifies SCORE volunteers to give business advice?

The key qualification SCORE mentors bring is real-world business experience. They are working and retired business owners, executives and managers who have been through the same challenges and decisions that many entrepreneurs are facing today. In addition, SCORE mentors offer valuable expertise in specific industries. All SCORE volunteers receive specialized training offered by the association and are certified in mentoring methodology.